Parents Charged With Abuse, Neglect After Leaving Son Alone In Motel For Hours
PARKVILLE, Md. (WJZ)—The parents of a 6-year-old boy suffering from severe malnutrition have been charged with child abuse and neglect after leaving him alone for hours at a motel.
Police say 33-year-old Jessica Lynn Maranto and 32-year-old Brandon Joseph Johnson left their son alone in a room at the Welcome Inn in Parkville between two and five hours last Thursday as they searched for other places to stay.
Police responded to the room at the Welcome Inn on Loch Bend Road just before 8:30 a.m. after a maintenance worker, who had entered the room because of a complaint about bed bugs, found a small child on the floor of the kitchen.
The boy appeared to be 2 years old and was transported to an area hospital for treatment. It was later learned that the child was 6 years old and was suffering from severe malnutrition.
The child remains hospitalized.
Both have been charged with first-degree child abuse, child neglect and related charges. They are being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $200,000 bail.
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